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Bonnie Testifies Before Congress on FDA Regulation of Tobacco 

Law professor Richard Bonnie, who recently served as chair of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Reducing Tobacco Use, testified before the House Subcommittee on Health on the bill HR1108, which would among other things give the United States Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products.

His testimony, delivered Oct. 3, was based on the Institute of Medicine report, "Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation." The report outlined a plan for the federal and state governments to reduce tobacco use to the point that it is no longer a significant health problem in the United States.

"Our report was not only about federal legislation and the FDA. It had a much broader scope, and a lot of the recommendations were directed to the states and private insurers," Bonnie said. "A key component of the blueprint for the nation, as we described it, is for the federal government to get off the sidelines. We need to change the regulatory landscape of tobacco control, and an important part of doing that is giving the FDA jurisdiction to regulate tobacco products." . . .

Bonnie also gave the keynote address to the Conference on Tobacco sponsored by the National Association of Attorneys General, held Oct. 15 in Seattle.

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